Planned Parenthood and Pro-Life Advocates Clash Over Space in Front of Valencia St. Clinic

Every Thursday morning, before most people get out of bed, Erika Hathaway packs up her wheelchair into her uncle’s truck, and heads to the Planned Parenthood clinic on Valencia Street.

Hathaway isn’t receiving ongoing medical treatment at Planned Parenthood. Instead she is an anti-abortion protester, who situates her wheelchair to get prime real estate — in front of the clinic doors.

Hathaway and her uncle, Ross Foti, have been protesting outside the Valencia St. facility for about two months. Planned Parenthood staff members have repeatedly called the San Francisco Police Department and the City Attorney’s office, along with consulting a lawyer, to see what can be done about the couple encroaching on the space of their patients when they walk in and out of the clinic.